Southern States - Karnataka   

Greens upset over roadwork in KNP

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE APRIL 24. Even though the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL) has decided to stop mining in the Kudermukh National Park (KNP), there are greater dangers lurking around the corner for this biodiversity hotspot.

The Forest Department plans to build roads measuring 100 km. within the KNP. It has already completed 35 km. of roads which pass through some of the best grasslands in the world alongside the eco-sensitive shola forests of the KNP. The Chief Wildlife Warden, the Minister for Forests, and the Deputy Conservator of Forest (KNP Range) are fully aware of the developments and appear to be persistent, despite pleas by conservationists and ecologists to shelve the project immediately.

Studies by several researchers have shown that roads inside biodiversity reserves can prove harmful. One such study titled "Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities" by Stephen C. Trombulak and Christopher A. Frissell from the Department of Biology, Middlebury, U.S., outlines the hazards caused by building roads in biodiversity reserves. They include mortality of animals and micro-organisms, mortality of animals resulting from collision with vehicles, modification in the behaviour of animals, disruption of the physical environment, alteration of the chemical environment, the spread of exotic species which may alter the biodiversity, changes in human use of land and water, and deterioration of the habitat.

The study states that roads in eco-sensitive zones change soil density, temperature, soil and water contents, light levels, surface water, patterns of water run off, and sedimentation. More dangerous is the addition of metals, especially lead, salts, organic molecules, ozone, and nutrients, according to the study.

The road being built by the department at the KNP cuts through grasslands at several places such as Savanalu, Valkunji Betta, and Manaki Betta. The noted litterateurs, U.R. Ananthamurthy and Poornachandra Tejaswi, have joined environmentalists in opposing the project. Organisations such as the Kudremukh Wildlife Foundation (KWF) of Mangalore and the Nagarika Seva Trust (NST) of Guruvainakere have raised the issue time and again. But nothing has stopped the department from carrying on the work.

In a letter to the Minister for Forests, K.H. Ranganath, Mr. Tejaswi had vehemently opposed the project. He said the roads would lead to formation of deep gorges during the monsoon. The rainwater would not only wash off topsoil but also uproot patches of grassland and cause damage to the shola forests. It was because of these dangers that a struggle was launched against the KIOCL to prevent it from acquiring the Nellibeedu and Gangadikallu reserves, he added.

A copy of the letter available with The Hindu said the DCF had taken a "unilateral decision" to uproot grasslands to build a road on the "flimsy" reason that it would facilitate better patrolling inside the forest.

The Convenor of the KWF, Niren Jain, said the roads would not only lead to ecological degradation but also encourage tourism and facilitate the influx of exotic species into the KNP, which might alter the biodiversity of the area. The roads would fragment the wildlife habitats, he added.

In their submission to the Chief Wildlife Warden, the officials of the Forest Department had reportedly stated that it was difficult to deal with forest fires during the summer, and building roads would help the officials reach the spot at the earliest. The Chief Wildlife Warden had once successfully stopped the roadwork after Mr. Tejaswi's letter was delivered to the minister. But after two months, the project was resumed and the department is all set to complete the project.

Dr. Ananthmurthy had joined hands with Tungamula Ulisi, a movement to protect the source of the Tunga, and visited the grasslands along with K.G. Shridhar, who heads the movement. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Shridhar said the argument of the department that roads were necessary to control forest fires was baseless as forest fires had been a part of all grasslands, and it was a natural way of giving birth to new pastures. Mr. Shridhar said the roads built by the department would give easy access to poachers and tree fellers and increase human activities within the KNP.

According to the Nagarika Seva Trust, which had opposed the construction of roads and laying of the HPCL pipeline in the Western Ghats in 2001, there should be no roads in the national park. The President of the trust, Somanatha Nayak, said all reserve forests and national parks should be bereft of roads. Instead, if the department was serious about effective patrolling, it should set up forest camps manned by foresters and officials at different vantage points. He recalled that the department was once vehemently opposed to roads inside forests, and wondered why it had made a volte-face now.

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